Farm-gate.



PATENTED JULY 9, 1907.

FARM GATE.

2 SHFSHBBT 1.

Y @sw M. A. STIGKLEY.

No; 859.626.' PATENTED JULY 9, 1907. M. A. STIGKL-EY. FARM GAT-E.

LPPLIOATIO II'LBD APB.. l0, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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- UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

FARM-GATE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1907.

Application filed April 10,1907. Serial No. 367,417.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARCUS ALLEN STICKLEY, acitizen of the UnitedStates, residing at McDaniel, in the county of Talbot and State ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFarm-Gates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates tothe class of farm gates, and particularly tothat type of gates Which are adaptedV to be opened and closedrby handoperated devices from on horseback or from a vehicle.

The particular object i-n the present improvement is the provision ofmeans whereby gates now in common use may be easily and cheaply equippedwith operating devices whereby such gates may be. broughtwithin theclass of so called automatic gates.

Another object is the provision of means-whereby gates of this class aremore easily and effectively operated than usual. i

A still further object is to so proportion and mount certain detailedparts of the mechanism as to provide draft meansy having the peculiareffect of initially releasing the latch of the gate and subsequentlyallowing the latch to have movement automaticallyfand independently ofthe draft means eventhough a continued pull beexerted upon the saiddraft means.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereofreference is to be had to the following description and accompanyingdrawings, in which: V

Figure 1 is a general perspective view of the entire gate mechanismincluding the novel constructions herein specified; Fig. 2 is a rearelevation of the gate in open position; Fig. 3 is a plan view, and Fig.,4V is a detail view to be hereafter described. i

Corresponding and like parts are referred tb in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.'

Referring particularly to the figures of the drawings and to thereference characters applied thereto, A indicates a gate of any ordinaryor approved construction hinged as at 10 upon the post B so as to swinglaterally in either direction. Such gate is ordinarily provided with asuitable automatic latch which may be of any usual type, such that whenindependent of any outside influence it automatically co-operates withthe catch C to lock the gate closed.

Located at a suitable distance on each side of the gate and atsubstantially right angles to the line of the gate when closed is a stoppost D of any suitable construction, the said stop posts beingsubstantially in alinement with the said gate post B. Each of the stopposts is provided with a catch C, adapted to receive and co-operate withthe latch aforesaid to hold the gate open. There is erected either inconnection with or in proximity to each of the said stop posts asuitable support E upon which is mounted at the outer end of the same apulley 11, the pulley being pivoted upon a horizontal axis. Upon the topof the gate and near the rear end thereof is placed a cross bar 12 whichforms a partial support for a pair of spaced arms 13 and 13 which aresecured at their forward ends to the top panel of the gate, and whoserear ends project to a suitable distance beyond the vertical line ofthepivots 10.r Upon the said rear ends of the arms vare pivoted operatinglevers 14 and 14, so as to swing on their pivots in parallel horizontalplanes. The said levers are pivoted up'on studs 15 and 15 respectively,and associated with the said levers and mounted upon the correspondingstuds are guide members 16 and 16 respectively, said guide members beingshown herein as being spool shaped and adapted to rotate upon the saidstuds. The said levers and guide members of each set are inverselyarranged so as to It is preferred, howl vices and which require a greatdeal of flexibility may t be made Of cord or rope. Such sections beingshort may be provided at small expense, and renewed when necessary.Secured to the lever 14 and extended in the opposite direction past theguide member 16 and over the pulley 11 is a corresponding draft means17. It will now be seen that by arranging the elements 14 and 16 indifferent planes with respect to the corresponding elements 14Aand 16,the draft means 17 and 17 will be prevented from interfering with eachother in an obvious manner. At the outer end of each of the said draftmeans is provided a handle 18 of any suitable length or construction.

Reverting now to the latch construction, the same is shown herein as ofthe pivoted and gravity operating type, the latch 19 being pivoted at 20so as to swing in a vertical plane and to automatically co-operate withthe catch C. In this type of gate, it is essential that means beprovided whereby an initial pull upon the draft means for opening thegate will operate to release or unlock the latch, and to this endconnections are provided extending from the said levers 14 and 14 tocooperate with the latch to release the same. In this instance there ispivoted upon the gate at or near the top thereof at the point 21 a baror lever 22, which may be of somewhat the same construction as the lever14. In place of the said lever 22 an ordinary pulley may be pivotedV ifdesired, or any other suitable direction changing device. A connection23, of suitable construction such as cord or wire extends from the innerend of the lever 14 to the upper end of the lever 22, and a corresponding connection 24 extends from the inner end of the lever 14 to thesame point at the upper end of the lever 22. A draft upon either of theconnections 23 and 24 will, therefore, turn the said lever 22 upon'itspivot. The lower end of the said lever 22 is connected with the latch bymeans of a connection 25 secured in any suitable manner to the latch atthe point 26 at any suitable distance between the latch pivot 20, andthe outer end of the gate.

From the foregoing detail description of the parts of the improvedmechanism, the operation of the same will be understood to besubstantially as follows: A person approaching the gate and desiring toopen the same, will pull downward upon the handle 18, exerting a pullupon the draft means 17, the rst effect of which is to swing the lever14 upon its pivot stud 15, whereby the connection 23 will be drawntoward lever 14 swinging the top of the lever 22 toward the gate hingeand lifting the latch out of engagement with the catch. A continuedpull, however, upon the draft means 17 will exert a direct pull upon thelever 14, and said direct pull will be received by the stud 15 and arm13 causing the gate to swing upon its pivot in a direction away from theoperator. The connection 23 by reason of the aforesaid direct pull ofthe draft means upon the stud 15 will at a certain predetermined pointin the said opening movement of the gate become slack allowing the latchfree movement independently of the said draft means, even though a pullbe continued indefinitely upon the said draft means. It will thereforebe seen that as the gate approaches the stop post D the latch will befree to automatically engage with the catch G/ associated with said stoppost D, irrespective of whether it is found necessary to exert acontinued pull upon the draft means, but as is often the case it isnecessary to give an additional impulse to the gate at such time inorder to completely open the same. In actual practice of this type ofgates it is by no means an uncommon occurrence for the gate when nearlyopen to be given a reverse impulse by some unforeseen circumstance, suchas a gust of wind, which necessitates the operator if he still has thedraft means in his control to give an additional draft upon the same inorder to lock the gate open, but if the draft means should exert acorresponding pull upon the latch operating means at such time it willbevobvious that the latch would be prevented from automaticallyco-operating with the catch at just the time required to lock the gateopen.

It will be understood that the latch 19 is of sufficient length andweight to overbalance the intermediate conopen. After passing throughthe gate the operator will pull downward upon the handle 18 to which hewill be then adjacent, exerting the pull upon the draft means 17/ whichwill be first transmitted to the latch to release the same through thelever 14 and connection 24, and a subsequent pull upon the said draftmeans 17 will operate to swing the gate upon its hinges toward itsclosed position, in an obvious manner. The gate will now be ready to beopened in either direction, as before.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is:-

l.- Operating mechanism for a farm gate comprising, in combination,spaced arms to be' secured to the gate, levers pivoted on the said armsat one end thereof, a guide roller for each of said levers and pivotedcoaxially therewith, draft means attached to the ends of said levers,respectively, at one end thereof, the draft means for eachlever'co-operating with the guide roller` of the other lever, and latchconnections secured to the other ends of the said levers, substantiallyas shown and described.

2. An improved farm gate mechanism comprising, in combination, a gatehinged to swing laterally in either direction, an automatic latch tohold the gate normally closed, stop posts each having a catch toco-operate with the latch to hold the gate open at will, spaced armssecured to the gate and projecting rearwardly beyond ,the axis of thegate hinges, a lever and an associated guiding member pivoted upon therear end of each of said arms, draft means extending from the aforesaidstop posts and severally connected to the rear ends of the said leversand adapted to co-operate with the said guiding members, respectively,and fiexible connections'bei tween said levers and the latch.

3. The combination of a gate, a pivoted gravity latch therefor, spaceddraft arms secured to the gate and projecting rearwardly beyond thevertical axis of the gate hinges, levers pivoted on the vertical studson the rear ends of said draft arms, a lever pivoted at the top of thegate on a horizontal pivot, fiexible draft means connected with theseveral levers on the ends of the draft arms, the draft means for eachdraft arm lever beingguided past the axis of the other draft arm lever,iiexible connections between the inner ends of said levers and the upperend of the lever pivoted to the top of the gate, and a connectionbetween the lower end of the last named lever and the latch.

In testimony whereof 1 ax my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARCUS ALLEN STICKLEY.

Witnesses:

O, H. BENSON, W. D. THOMPSON.

